


Tricks a Treat

by press05



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, Haunted Houses, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21270905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/press05/pseuds/press05
Summary: When did “can I go hang with you while you take your daughter trick-or-treating” turn to “hey guess what? I’m gonna go trick-or-treating with your daughter”?Oh yeah, when Scott befriended Peter and Peter’s magical boyfriend turned him into a kid for the night. Of course, right?





	Tricks a Treat

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been like writing this dumb thing off an on since November of last year. I guess it’s appropriate I finished it in a year. Jeez. I mostly just wanted to write some Scott perspective. Hope I did him justice.
> 
> Happy belated Halloween!

When did “can I go hang with you while you take your daughter trick-or-treating” turn to “hey guess what? I’m gonna go trick-or-treating with your daughter”?   
  
Oh yeah, when Scott befriended Peter and Peter’s magical boyfriend turned him into a kid for the night. Of course, right?   
  
Cassie was impressed though.   
  
“What are you gonna go as, Peter?” Cassie was dressed as a vampire fairy princess rabbit.   
  
Peter, usually a 30-something-year-old man, now a boy looking not much older than Cassie. “I’m gonna go as an astronaut!” Even his voice sounded like a kid’s. “I always wanted to go as one of those!”   
  
Cassie approved. “Astronauts are pretty cool.” She looked at Scott. “Daddy? Do you wanna go trick-or-treating too?”   
  
Peter grinned at him and honestly, it was kind of tempting but someone had to be adult here.   
  
“Nah I’m good, Peanut.”   
  
Peter put an arm around Cassie. “The two of us are gonna get so much candy!”   
  
Cassie giggled. “Yeah!”   
  
Luis walked in holding a bowl of candy, he tilted his head. “Who’s that?”   
  
“Hey Luis! It’s me!” Peter greeted running over to him.   
  
“Me who?”   
  
“Starlord!”   
  
Luis blinked, looked at Scott confused then back at Peter. “Like...Starlord-Starlord or…?”  
  
“The one and only!” He pushed his chest out in emphasis. Scott had to cover a laugh with a cough. “Loki did some cool magic and I get to go trick or treating!”

“Whoa that’s awesome bro.” Luis grinned. “You think he can do some magic on me too?”

Scott stepped in, shaking his head but amused. “You got a company Halloween party to host, bud.” 

“Aw but that doesn’t sound as fun as going trick or treating!”

“Luis, c’mon.”

“Yeah yeah…”

“I’ll bring you something back, Uncle Luis!” Cassie smiled as she made the promise. 

Luis smiled back. “Thanks, Cassie.”

\--

  
“You sure you don’t want to go with us, Loki?”

Loki just shook his head. “I’ve told you once and I’ll tell you again, I’m not interested.”

“But you’re, like, god of mischief!” 

“Guilty as charged but I’m not exactly interested watching you collect candy, dear.” He snorted. “The request in itself is strange enough.” For a moment Scott could tell the former villain was regretting even indulging in his boyfriend’s nostalgia. “Just be home at a reasonable time so I can remove the enchantment.” 

“Aww okay.” Peter leaned up as if to kiss him only to get a hand shoving him away. “Hey!”

“I will not kiss you until you’ve returned to your proper age.” Loki laughed at Peter’s pouting. “Now go, get your treats.”

Scott shook his head as he watched Peter run over to Cassie. “We should be back around 8 or 9.”  
  
“Excellent, Man-Ant.”   
  
“Uhh…”   
  
“You’d better catch up with them.”   
  
“Right.”   
  
\--   
  
The night went by pretty well as he trailed beside his daughter and friend.   
  
“I got so much candy, daddy!”   
  
Scott smiled. “Cuz you’re so cute.”   
  
Peter tugged on his sleeve. “Hey, Scotty let’s try that house!”   
  
Scott looked over to where he pointed at and frowned. “Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s home.”   
  
It was an old Victorian style home but it had definitely seen better days. The overgrown lawn of weeds and faded paint job on the house were clearly signs of neglect. He could also see some broken windows. Yeah, no. 

“But it looks so spooky!” Peter looked giddy as he held on to his pillowcase full of candy. “What if it’s haunted?”

Scott frowned at the way Peter was acting. It was _ off _. As the night wore on he was acting more and more the part of little kid and at first he brushed it off. Peter Quill was kind of a clown and that’s one of the reasons why they get along but this seemed way too genuine. 

“Are you okay, Pete?” 

Peter bounced. “Yeah! Yeah I’m good! I wanna get scared!” he giggled and Cassie joined him.

“I wanna get scared too, daddy!”

“Well, I’m sure we could just head home and watch some scary movies,” he tried to steer them away from the house. “No point in trespassing.” 

“Awww that’s no fun!” Peter pouted. “Look! Big kids are goin’ in!”

He looked to what his friend was pointing at and sure enough some teenagers were heading inside. Oh, to be young and stupid. 

“So what if big kids are going in? If big kids were jumping off a cliff would you join them?” He sounded like such a fuddy dud. Jeez. 

“Maybe if it looked fun.”

“Peter’s got cool jet boots he’d be ok,” Cassie added.

Scott sighed shaking his head. “Not the point, guys! Now c’mon let’s get you both home.”

The kids looked like they wanted to argue but a scream broke out before they could get a word in. They huddled, pressing into Scott’s legs as they heard yells accompany the screams. 

Scott turned to the source of it from the house. It was no doubt the teens that went inside the house. It was Halloween. They were just being dumb teenagers and scaring each other. No big deal. He held onto the kids and watched, waiting for any other sounds or activity. 

“Look,” Cassie whispered pointing to one of the windows. 

Scott squinted at the sight of a lit candle being held by someone. 

He exhaled a little, feeling tension leave him. It was Halloween. The kids were just being teens. His fear forgotten he began leading the kids away. “C’mon guys.”  


“But daddy what if they’re in danger?” Cassie tried pulling him to stop. “You’re a superhero you gotta go check on them!”

“I’m gonna check on ‘em!” Peter declared freeing himself of Scott’s grip to run into the house.

“Pete! Quill, wait stop!” 

As soon as his friend ran into the house a group of teens ran out. 

The teens were hurriedly grabbing their bikes ignoring Scott’s questions. “Stay away from that house, man!” was all he got before they rode out. 

Scott sighed before leaning down to pick Cassie up. “C’mon let’s just get Quill and head home.”

Cassie pouted. “I can walk, Daddy.”

“I know, Peanut but it’s kinda dark and I don’t want you stepping on glass or something.” He squinted into the darkness as he took a step into the threshold only for the door to shut in his face. “Wha-hey!”

He grabbed the doorknob giving it a few turns but it was locked. “The hell?”

Cassie looked at him in worry. “Do you think a ghost locked us out?”

“What?” Scott frowned. “No, of course not Peanut.” He sighed before setting Cassie back down. “Okay, what I’m about to do isn’t necessarily okay but we’re only doing it to get Peter outta there.” 

Cassie nodded as she watched him pick at the lock with one of the bobby-pins that decorated her hair. “Wow…”

Scott couldn’t help but smile before shaking his head. “Thanks but remember it’s not okay.”

She giggled. “Okay.”

With a click, the door opened. “Open says me.”

The two stepped into the house, their steps slow and careful because of the dark. Scott held Cassie’s hand and used his free hand to hold up his phone as a flashlight. The place had seen better days. It was mostly dusty and abandoned. 

“Quill? Where are you?” He called out. “Pete? This isn’t funny!” 

“Star lord!” Cassie joined in. “C’mon! We’re supposed to trade candies later, remember???” 

There was a shuffling sound coming from above then the sound of a door slamming.

Scott sighed. “We’re really getting treated with a spooky chase, huh kiddo?”

Cassie shrugged. “It _is_ Halloween.”

—

When they reach the second floor Scott can’t help but shiver as a chill ran down his spine. He quickly shook it off hoping his daughter didn’t notice. “Creepy, huh?”

“Yeah, super creepy,” Cassie agreed. 

He eyed the first door on the floor and sighed before reaching to open it. “Quill? You in there?” 

Cassie gripped his leg as the door opened. “Peter?”

Another room that had seen better days but no Peter. “He better not make us look through all these rooms.” 

They moved to step out of the room only for the door to slam shut. 

“What the-“

“Not again!”

Scott grumbled as he took another one of Cassie’s bobby-pins to unlock the door. “Okay! It wasn’t funny to begin with but I’m getting tired of this Pete!”

Cassie held the phone to shine light for her dad only to pause as the phone rang. “It’s Uncle Luis! I’ll put it on speaker.” 

“Hey! What’s up Scotty?”

Scott sighed as he fiddled with the lock. “Oh just trying to get this door unlocked.”

“Oh no! Do you need me to stop by and open it with my spare?”

He gave up messing with the lock to properly talk to his friend. “No no that’s- we’re not home yet.”

“Wait so-“

Scott interrupted to explain the situation.

“Oh wow that’s crazy man, what street was it again?”

“Uh Reagan Street, I think?”

“Oh no! Dude! That’s- that house is haunted like for real.”

“Aw c’mon, Luis ghosts and stuff aren’t real.”

“Really? Dude, you know magic people and you don’t believe in ghosts?”

“Well, there’s kind of a science involved-“

“Quill is running around as a little kid, Scotty.”

Okay. He had a point. 

“Anyway! So like my cousin Rosita’s friend’s brother was talking about that house while they were getting slushies at this Circle-K in Sacramento, I think? They went there because they had the grape flavored ones. You never see those like anywhere! It’s always the same stuff, like, cherry and the coke one and maybe the blue one and y’know it’s never the good flavors! Anyway so that house? Haunted. There used to be a lady that lived there and then one day she died. Not unlike how my Tio Benjamin died mysteriously when I was five and nobody would say why so of course, like, me and my cousins would try to figure out why but it turns out it wasn’t mysterious at all he just choked on a churro. The lady didn’t choke on a churro but like she died and it was all sad and stuff because he had a kid but her soul hasn’t rested since cuz it’s got unfinished business and stuff-“

Scott had to take a deep breath sometimes Luis’ tangents left him breathless. “Okay, okay so a lady died here and her ghost is annoying us by locking doors. Got it.”

“Yeah, crazy, right?”

Scott considered calling Peter’s boyfriend to deal with this nonsense. This seemed more his territory what with the whole magic thing. Then again, he doubted the former villain would answer. He glanced at the time and frowned when he realized how late it was getting. 

“Absolutely, man.” He glanced at Cassie who seemed, despite the dusty room they were in, fine. “Hey, uh, how’s the company party going?”

“Not bad! I think people are enjoying themselves. They like the playlist you made!”

Scott smiled. “That’s good to hear,” he sighed, “hey, uh, I’m gonna call you back, okay? Once this is all sorted.”

“No problem, Scotty! You and Cassie just be safe, alright?”

“Later, man.” He looked back at Cassie. “Let’s get out of this dumb house, Peanut.”

His daughter let out a sneeze, sniffling. “Please.”

—

Exiting the room led to a lit and immaculate hallway. The second floor no longer looked decrepit leaving the father and daughter to stare. 

“So it is a ghost, huh?” Cassie whispered to her dad.

“It would seem so, Peanut.” Scott sighed and hoped and prayed it they weren’t about to experience anything like the _Poltergeist_ or _The Exorcist_. He really didn’t need to traumatize his daughter 

“What now?”

“Well…”

Their answer came at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, quickly they made their way to the source.

In a different room, the door open, was a woman embracing Peter.

She didn’t look like a ghost. Well, not what Scott imagined ghosts to look like. She looked alive! 

The woman pulled away, an echoey sniffling was heard. “Thank you, Peter.”

Peter, who looked like he lost his astronaut helmet along the way, just smiled. “Thank you.” He turned away to quickly wipe at his eyes.

The woman turned to look at Scott, a sad smile on her face. “I’m sorry for trapping you two.” She looked at Peter. “I thought my little boy came home and I wanted to-” she paused to compose herself. “I just wanted to spend some time before the night ended.”

Scott wasn’t sure what to say. He was glad she wasn’t some crazy, angry evil spirit but that didn’t seem appropriate to say out loud so he just nodded dumbly. They were all safe. No need to sour things, right?

Cassie tilted her head. “You don’t look like a ghost.”

The woman, couldn’t help but laugh. The sound was echoey and albeit creepy. 

“It’s Halloween.” She shrugged. “Lines are a bit blurred during this time and well, all kinds of things I can’t explain happen.”

“Like fixing the hallway?”

The ghost lady nodded. “Again, I felt kind of bad trapping you and thought maybe a nicer house would put you more at ease.”

Scott looked at Cassie. “Works for me.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Peter hugged the woman again. “I’m gonna find a way to help you better.” 

The ghost just smiled before returning the hug. “You’ve done plenty.”

“I mean it!” He pulled away, face determined.

Scott wasn’t exactly sure how he’d help but hey, that was a problem for future Quill.

“It’s getting late,” the ghost said. “Please, get home safe now.”

Then she was gone.

—

The next day Scott figured he should check on Quill. He was relieved they all got out of the house fine but he couldn’t help but be curious. What had happened between him and the ghost? 

“Another visit from the Man-ant.” 

Scott rolled his eyes. “It’s Ant-man, Loki.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

Scott sighed. “What’s up with your boyfriend?”

“He seems fine.” The former villain shrugged. “He’s determined in finding someone. He asked Stark of all people for help.”

Sure enough in the other room Peter was talking to Tony over holograms. 

“Thanks, Tin Can!” 

“Yeah, yeah whatever, Flash Gordon.”

Peter rushed out of the room after the call ended. “Oh hey Scott, sup?”

“Sup yourself...what’s going on?”

He found a hand on his shoulder. “I found the ghost lady’s son’s address! I’m gonna talk to him and get him to visit the old house.”

“What?”

“Honestly, I have the same sentiments.” Loki had an eyebrow quirked at the two.

Peter turned to his boyfriend. “Remember how I was telling you about the ghost lady last night?”

“Right, you both missed your respective loved ones.” Loki casted his eyes elsewhere.

Scott frowned at the implications. He forgot Peter’s story. He was just relieved about the ghost business not going south he didn’t think about Peter missing his mom too. Huh. 

“She deserves closure too! Maybe she won’t be a ghost anymore.” Peter glanced at them both. “I owe her.”

“Does he live in the area?”

Peter grinned at Scott. “Surprisingly, yeah.”

“Well, let’s go.” 

—

Finding the ghost lady’s son was easy with Tony’s directions. 

The guy was a bit out of sorts meeting them and even more confused when asked to come with them. 

“Please, I know it sounds crazy but we just need you to step in and that’s it.”

The man sighed. “My dad never wanted me setting foot in that place after what happened. I was with my grandmother’s the whole time things were getting...settled.” He shrugged. “What the hell, might as well.” 

Scott was honestly surprised. Hearing two strangers talk about your childhood home, where your mother passed, then asking to take you there? Crazy. He’d shut the door in their face. Luckily George wasn’t him at all.

George opened the rusty gate and pushed through the old doors of the house while they waited outside.

“It’s not Halloween anymore, you think it’ll still work?” He found himself asking after remembering what the ghost had told Cassie.

He felt like a ghost whisperer or something. Maybe if their security business didn’t pan out he could get into the ghost business. 

“I dunno but,” Peter shrugged, “it can’t hurt, right?”

“Right.” 

The two of them jumped at the sound of a door slamming.

Okay, maybe not the ghost business. Ghost business was scary. He’d stick with superhero stuff.

Peter clapped him on the back. “Thanks for letting me go trick-or-treating, Lang.”

Scott huffed. “Just don’t ask me again. I think I’m good with just taking Cassie.” He put his hands on his hips. “She doesn’t lead me into spooky haunted houses.”

His friend chuckled. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> I obviously have no experience with this kind of thing. I think me keeping things vague enough made it not as bad as it could’ve been. I mean, that’s my opinion lol. But hey, I hope you enjoyed it. Scott and Peter are great buds for sure! Wish there had been a chance for that in Endgame. Aw well.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
